The top 10 Pakistan Test cricketers

The Sunday Times November 13, 2005

The top 10 Pakistan Test cricketers
SIMON WILDE

1 Imran Khan Imran wasn’t born a fast bowler. He began as an anonymous medium-pacer before throwing caution to the wind and building himself up, physically and psychologically, into one of the fiercest, most lion-hearted tearaways in a cricket world suddenly full of them. With Sarfraz Nawaz, who taught him the mysteries of reverse swing, he gave Pakistan the muscle to beat anybody, anywhere. He could bat a bit too, which left him jostling with Ian Botham, Kapil Dev and Richard Hadlee for the title of top all-round dog 20 years ago. But Imran’s trump card was his captaincy. As with most Pakistan captains, he led dictatorially, but whereas those who have followed have merely irritated some, or all, of their teammates, Imran marshalled them into a cohesive force, and in 1992 into World Cup winners — at England’s expense. Oxford-educated, he played much of his cricket in England, for Sussex and then Worcestershire, with his appearances back home largely limited to international duties. London, it seemed, held more attractions for Imran (not least his now ex-wife Jemima Goldsmith) than his home town of Lahore, although that soon changed when he retired and plunged into politics.

2 AH Kardar As the founding father of the game in Pakistan, Abdul Kardar deserves to bear comparison with Imran. After playing for India in England in 1946, the year before Partition, Kardar stayed on to study at Oxford, spend two seasons playing for Warwickshire and marry the daughter of the club chairman. He then returned home to lead Pakistan in their first 23 Tests. With bat and ball he was useful rather than great, but his self-assurance ensured that Pakistan were competitive, not cowed, and during his time they were good enough to record victories against all the other Test teams they faced. In retirement, Kardar was Pakistan’s guiding light, as chairman of selectors, then chairman of the board, before resigning in 1977 in protest

at government interference. “After Kardar, Pakistan cricket was thrown to the wolves,” said Imran. Kardar died in 1996 at the

age of 71.

3 Javed Miandad Nobody has scored more heavily in Tests for Pakistan than Miandad, whose 8,832 runs left him rubbing shoulders with illustrious company from other countries. That’s only as Miandad would have wanted it: he was never shy about his achievements, and shoulder-rubbing was something he was rather good at. He saw it as his duty to get under the skin of opponents and rarely left the ground without having got within one more jibe of a punch-up. His feistiness may have stemmed from an inferiority complex, as he lacked the education and breeding of those who ran Pakistan cricket when he entered the game in the mid-1970s. A master at working the ball into gaps, he excelled at one-day cricket, but also touched rare heights in Tests: nobody else topped 250 in Tests as often in the 1980s.

4 Waqar Younis One of the greatest sights in cricket was Waqar charging in, legs and arms pumping as he careered towards an open-chested, low-armed delivery that sent the ball lassoing down the pitch and probably, if the ball was old, following a scarcely credible swerve towards the base of the stumps. Nobody has quite mastered reverse swing as well as Waqar, although his methods sometimes strayed beyond legitimacy: he was given a one-match suspension for ball-tampering in 2000. He and Wasim Akram took nearly 800 Test wickets between them, mostly in tandem, but Waqar had the greater capacity to wreak wholesale destruction when the force was with him. Alec Stewart and Michael Atherton said they never faced better bowling than from this pair in 1992. At The Oval that year Waqar wrecked England’s second innings to set up a thumping win that earned Pakistan a series victory.

5 Hanif Mohammad Goodness knows what the game today would make of Hanif, who once batted more than 16 hours to save a Test match. Sixteen hours goes a long way these days — whole Tests can be finished in that time — but back in 1958, when Hanif played the longest innings in history in Barbados, an immaculate forward defensive could still bring fame, not infamy. Hanif, a master technician, was Pakistan’s first star during a time when radio broadcasts were helping to popularise cricket. His score of 499 in a domestic match remained the world record until beaten by Brian Lara in 1994.

6 Inzamam-ul-Haq Not too many Pakistan batsmen have the technique to score heavily in Tests abroad. Miandad averaged 61 at home and 46 away; Zaheer Abbas 58 at home, 37 away. Nothing speaks more eloquently of Inzamam’s class than his 4,597 runs at an average of 48.4 outside his own land, where his average is a scarcely superior 53. Inzamam’s bulk and reputation for laziness are at odds with the grace of his shots and the anticipation it must take to play the ball so perfectly, so late. As a big-match player whose centuries have proved a virtual guarantee of victory, he also stands out from many of his compatriots.

7 Wasim Akram The most brilliant left-arm fast bowler the game has seen. Wasim was less explosive than Waqar but more subtle in his means of attack. It was much harder to pick up the ball from Wasim: when he came round the wicket, he would jump out from behind the umpire, and his arm was freakishly fast. He was the first Pakistan bowler to take 400 Test wickets and he could bat as well, once scoring 257 against Zimbabwe. However, the match-fixing allegations against him, which resulted in him being barred from the Pakistan captaincy after 2000, must mark him down.

8 Fazal Mahmood Fazal was Kardar’s trump card: Pakistan’s first matchwinning bowler, whose fame was assured by the delivery of historic first Test triumphs over England at The Oval in 1954 and Australia in Karachi two years later. Tall, strong and dashing, Fazal would have been a marketing man’s dream in a later age. He bowled relentlessly accurate medium-pace and could move the ball either way. He took 139 wickets in 34 Tests and led Pakistan in three series. He died in May this year.

9 Abdul Qadir The bouncy run, the pirate beard, the whirling arms, the devilish gyrations . . . Qadir was a breath of fresh

air in a 1980s world dominated by pace. Shane Warne is credited as the saviour of leg-spin bowling, but Qadir’s 236 wickets in 67 Tests in 13 years before Warne — equally raffish with earring and blond hair — came on to the scene confound that. He gave Pakistan the power to fight the mighty West Indies on equal terms and to rout England — he took 61 of their wickets in nine home Tests, including nine for 56 at Lahore in 1987.

10 Sarfraz Nawaz Sarfraz beats off the waspish but wasteful Shoaib Akhtar to the last place because he popularised the art of reverse swing, handing it down to Imran, and through him to Wasim, Waqar and the world. He produced some inspired spells during a career of 55 Tests in which he took 177 wickets, including a nine-wicket innings in Melbourne in 1979, where he took seven wickets for one run in 33 balls. A dab hand with the bat, too, the moody Punjabi became the third Pakistani to take 100 Test wickets and score 1,000 Test runs.

I like it. Good read that.

My Top Ten now would be:-

1. Imran
2. Inzi
3. WAqar
4. Javed
5. Wasim
6. Hanif
7. kardar
8. Saqi
9. Qadir
10. Anwar

If inzi can stick around for a bit and lead us to WC 2007 victory the no.1 spot might be his in my book. NOt that he would care

1.Javed Miandad
2.Javed Miandad
3.Javed Miandad
4.Imran Khan
5.Hanif Mohammad
6.Wasim Akram
7.Inzamam-ul-Haq
8.Waqar Younis
9.Abdul Qadir
10.Sarfraz Nawaz

Its true kardar and imran two of the greats to have represented pakistan.

As i would have it:

1. Imran Khan
2. AH Kardar
3. Javed Miandad
4. Inzaman Ul Haq
5. Waqar Younis
6. Wasim Akram
7. Abdul Qadir
8. Saeed Anwar
9. Fazal Mahmood
10. Hanif Mohammad

Mine - in no particular order?

1 Imran Khan
2 Hanif Mohammad
3 Javed Miandad
4 Fazal Mahmood
5 Wasim Akram
6 Majid Khan
7 Zaheer Abbas
8 Waqar Younis
9 Inzamam ul Haq
10 Saeed Anwar

Cant believe I could not find a place for Abdul Qadir. Maybe you could drop all but 3 of the above and find a place for him. Asif Iqbal too has to be a very narrow miss.